Alhaji Adewale Isa national open junior tennis championship serves off in Lagos

August 2, 2022

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By Ifeanyi Eduzor
A total of 171 players from 20 states of the Federation are participating in the third edition of Alhaji Mustapha Adewale Isa memorial national open junior tennis championship which served off Monday at the tennis court of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.
The tournament which involved ages 12 and under, 14 and Under as well 16 and under according to national junior tennis coach Ubale Mohammed is aimed at remembering the various contributions made by the late coach towards the development of the racket game in the country during his time just as he expressed delight with the large turnout of players since registration and preliminary matches started.
” This is a tournament sponsored by the children of Alhaji Isa to immortalize his name because of his numerous contributions in developing tennis in the country.
” The late Alhaji Isa produced many national and international players during his life time and was always there for everyone not minding the part of the country the person comes from. He produced champions and Olympians for the country such as; Sadiq Abdullahi and Yakubu Suleiman and left a legacy his children want to remember and celebrate.
Ubale was optimistic that if this type of grassroots tournament is organized regularly Nigeria will regain its dominance position in tennis in not only the West African sub- region but the entire African continent.
” When we began making the draws, we had a very large turnout which was more than 170. We even have to create ages 10 and under which was originally not scheduled in the tournament. “And I can tell you there were a lot of surprises in all categories because we discovered many talented players that held their own against the seeded players which is very encouraging and I can tell you that if we have more of this type of tournament regularly, in the next few years we will come back to our dominant position not only in West Africa but the entire African continent”, he concluded.